Databricks Data Engineer Associate Question 101
Single answerA data engineer is working with a Databricks environment and has created a table using the following SQL command: CREATE TABLE external_table USING PARQUET OPTIONS ('path' '/mnt/data/external-source'). They want to confirm if this table is a Delta Lake table. Which of the following statements is correct?
- A
The table is a Delta Lake table because Delta Lake is the default format for all tables in Databricks.
- B
The table is not a Delta Lake table because the
USING PARQUETclause was used instead ofUSING DELTA. - C
The table is a Delta Lake table because it is stored on the Databricks File System (DBFS).
- D
The table is not a Delta Lake table because it was created with an external data source.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
To determine whether a table is a Delta Lake table, the table creation command must specify the Delta format explicitly with USING DELTA. In this scenario, the USING PARQUET clause indicates that the table is a Parquet table, not a Delta Lake table. The storage location or the use of external data sources does not inherently determine a table's format.
- A. Incorrect.
Delta Lake is not the default format in Databricks; the format must be explicitly specified using
USING DELTAor through configurations. - B. Correct.
This is correct because the
USING PARQUETclause explicitly specifies that the table uses the Parquet format, not Delta Lake. - C. Incorrect.
The storage location (e.g., DBFS) does not determine whether a table is a Delta Lake table; the format specified during table creation does.
- D. Incorrect.
Using an external data source does not prevent a table from being a Delta Lake table if
USING DELTAis specified.